K-Seal. Anyone tried it?

[donalds]

Not sure it will turn to jelly I think is says on the bottle it will not . Plus I have heard of people that leave it in like koda don't get me wrong I don't want to damage my truck so I did not just take kodas word I did research I found lots of good reviews but I am gonna keep an eye on it for sure how long do you think it will take to turn to jelly

 

[donalds]

I kinda put it in for preventive measures bc I just did 3 pumps in a row so I put it in before it even had a chance to leak out the weep hole lol

 

[koda2000]

If you read the instructions on the K-Seal bottle, it says to put it directly into the antifreeze and leave it in there. That's the way I've used it multiple times. I prefer to put in directly into the radiator, though the instructions say you can add it to the expansion tank. I also spoke to K-Seal's customer support to ask if it might work on a head gasket where exhaust was leaking into the cooling system? They said perhaps, but only if the engine could be run with the bad cylinder's spark plug removed. The label on the bottle says the product remains active in the cooling system to seal future leaks, so I don't believe it ever crystallizes and I know it doesn't jell over time. It also will not clog your radiator or heater core.

As I've said in the past, I'm not a big believer in fixes in a bottle, but I know K-Seal works and I've added it to all my vehicles for preventive maintenance purposes. The original engine I added it to (now about 4 years ago) is still coolant leak free.

The only thing I've found that K-Seal had no effect on was a leaking radiator tank seal. which I wouldn't have expected it to work on.

 

[Coasting2aStall]

I guess Kseal is one of those sodium silicate versions that claims not to jell antifreeze.? I can only assume it has some additive to prevent the sodium silicate from doing this??? Be worth the extra not to have to hassle draining antifreeze, etc. No experience with it, but I do have experience with straight silicone silicate. It does work. And as I say when added to radiator with hot water in it, it works by crystallizing where the leak is. In other words the hot sodium silicate crystallizes at the leak where it meets cooler air. And this crystallization plugs the leak. It can last long time or fail in short time depending on the leak. Bigger leaks no doubt harder to seal. Or if expanding/contracting metal breaks the crystallized sodium silicate.

 

[96eb96]

K-seal works on the cracked head problem in the OHV. I have it for thousands of miles. I read others too who had success with it. Clean coolant is important. Ford used to mention they put sealers in the Anti-freeze from the factory. They had a product that was supposed to be added with each coolant change.

I didn't see too many clogged coolant systems in reviews from K-seal, it is probably one of the safer products. I mean, if I had a mint condition truck I probably would do the repair, but when there is rust I make choices like that. If it fails state inspection for that it goes to the junkyard anyway.

 

[CDW6212R]

I have the K-Seal in my 98 now, since about six weeks ago. I have had a slight leak from the radiator(plastic tank seals), and likely someplace on the timing cover. I hadn't had to add anything for about 18 months, it just leaked maybe a pint randomly once every few weeks.

Then this Winter I got to seeing a puddle under one side that was never showing anything before. It would leak a good 18" sized puddle, one day, then nothing for a day, and then three days in a row. That's when I had to keep a gallon of distilled water with me in the truck, and I began trying an additive. I first used the one I had on a shelf for years, the silver powder Alumiseal I think it is. That was messy to put in, and half worked. I bought two more to replace the first, and be ready to do it again. I added the 2nd one, and that worked for about a week, but the leak came back almost as bad as before.

I bought the K-seal(1) with the other two Alumiseal units, and then I tried one. I like that it is a mixed liquid and pours in with little mess at all. That almost stopped my leak that day, but it still leaked a little puddle. After several more days, I put a 2nd bottle of K-Seal in, I ordered two from Amazon. That 2nd bottle so far has stopped my leak well enough that I haven't had to add any coolant now, for about three weeks.

My coolant is nearly clear, the G-1 antifreeze is clear, and the Alumiseal didn't really discolor it before. If it'll continue to hold, I'm satisfied with the K-Seal. I like that it's a sealed bottle which is very easy to store in the vehicle. I have one bottle of it, plus a 24oz bottle with distilled water in that, in my jack storage area. I think it's good stuff.

 

[Centaurus5.0]

I can also vouch that it works. But don't pour it in the reservoir, at least not in a 2nd gen. Made that mistake once. The passage inside the nipple that comes off the radiator (where the radiator cap is) to the reservoir is so small, K-seal will plug it up which in turn will let coolant expand to the tank but not flow back into radiator. Even though I know it works, I still don't like using it because of the solids in it that look like copper shavings. I can't imagine that is good for water pump seal and also have seen it collect on the thermostat gunking it up. If you pour it in the radiator, most of its just going to settle on the bottom, but that I'm just guessing based on what I've seen it do to the expansion tank and thermostat. Thought about pouring a bit at a time into a fitting on the heater core line. My advice would be not to pour the entire bottle in at once, just a little at a time (1/4of a bottle?) until you can get the leak to stop. Flushing after it stops the leak may also be good, but then again it can also put you back to square one. Someone mentioned the AC Delco Coolant Seal Tablets which sound like a better idea as it will remain a solid until it dissolves so its not just a glob of crap floating around and settling in every crevice of the cooling system. If you are building 5.0L engine, spent a lot of time making sure the timing cover gasket gets all the attention it deserves. That's all I got.

 

[CDW6212R]

Having particles settle in places you don't want it is a smart thought. The best way to avoid that is to only add that kind of additive when the engine warms up. It may be hard to do it when the coolant is full, and by taking the radiator cap off before starting.Pouring it in when the T-stat is open would be the best way to be sure it mixes evenly and not concentrate in any one place etc. When i added something the radiator was already down about an inch, so nothing expanded out of the radiator as I added to it. One time it wasn't I sucked a little out to get the powder stuff in well, and then poured water on the outlet to wash away the particles from the cap.

 

[Centaurus5.0]

When I look at cheap vehicles to buy, the second thing I do after inspecting for rust is look around the radiator and reservoir. I would have to say 40% of them have the tell tale signs of stop leak either around caps or down the sides. Looks like gold/copper/silver over spray. It's very fine like glitter and doesn't rinse off too easy. For all I know the radiator and engine block could be half full with the stuff. I've offended many a seller when I walk away 2 minutes after arriving to look um.

Them:
"You haven't even driven it yet, this is a good car!"

Me:
"Yeah, I'm sure it is... good luck"

 

[96eb96]

When I look at cheap vehicles to buy, the second thing I do after inspecting for rust is look around the radiator and reservoir. I would have to say 40% of them have the tell tale signs of stop leak either around caps or down the sides. Looks like gold/copper/silver over spray. It's very fine like glitter and doesn't rinse off too easy. For all I know the radiator and engine block could be half full with the stuff. I've offended many a seller when I walk away 2 minutes after arriving to look um.

Them:
"You haven't even driven it yet, this is a good car!"

Me:
"Yeah, I'm sure it is... good luck"

Probably a good idea for an very old car. I know I had pinhole leaks in the freeze plugs, even after changing it there was a bit of corrosion on the block, and who knows when another gasket is ready to go on a long trip.

 

[Centaurus5.0]

Yea

Peoples can get sneaky when selling a car. You look at the expansion tank and the coolant looks perfectly clean on a vehicle with 180,000 miles. Open the radiator cap and the coolant looks like Nesquik.

Nice try fella... nice try...

Looked at a 2000 limited once that a college girl got from her grand mother. Took off the rad cap and it was 2/3rd full and looked like rusty water. I told her the coolant system has a leak and the whole thing need to be flushed on top of the leak repaired.

She told me: "the engine needs to be running before you check it, that why it's low"

I think you're going to need a few more years of college, sweetheart.